The Human Trials
by ABright
Summary: Hermione becomes a trainee Healer, to help people, save them. Then fate intervenes and casts Draco Malfoy into her path. What happens when he's the one she has to care for? When he's the one she has to save? When the only world he has ever known rejects him, Draco must find a place for himself in the one he's spent his life detesting, with the girl he was taught to hate.


Hey guys!

I'm here with my first Dramione multi-fic! (Ahhh!) :)

If you don't already understand the plotline, basically, Hermione is a trainee healer and Draco is her first Personal Patient.

Hope that makes sense and I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not a thing, sadly!

Oh and by the way, I have already published a Dramione one-shot and I am not sure whether the two are connected yet, not that it really matters, but just so you know! :)

Happy Reading!

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Before The Beginning:

Light filtered into the room, spraying the white washed walls with glows of the mellow morning yellow. The sun was low in the sky; it looked calm outside, peaceful. A trainee Healer stood by the large window of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She wrapped her arms over herself and sighed. Hermione Granger had always wanted to help people. Especially after the war, oh god, the pain she had seen during those terrible days, weeks, had it been months? So much hurt there had been back then. It had encompassed them all, they had lived it, breathed it, they had become the hurt they felt inside. So, during those terrible hours of the battle, Hermione Granger had decided to dedicate the rest of her life to helping others, to helping those who needed it most. So, upon finishing her latter year of schooling she had enrolled to become a Healer.

She stood now, 6 months in, and grinned at the sun, hanging low in the morning sky. How she loved it here. How she thought she was worth something, felt she made even a small difference to people lives. She had been appointed to the 'Dangerous Dai Llewellyn Ward', therefore treating Animal bites, scratches, stings, embedded artifacts and burns. Never was her day dull, she could certainly say that.

Hermione as a trainee was issued with the menial jobs to begin with, bandaging wounds, brewing potions, using simple healing charms, anything the Healers needed doing she would do, which suited her fine, she was learning and of course she loved to do that! Recently however, her wards Healer-in-charge, Hippocrates Smethwyck, or Smethy as many called him (Hermione daren't do so, not yet) had told her that she was to be issued to become a personal Healer to a patient in the coming weeks. A personal Healer! She had wanted to hug him! How amazing it would be, to be the carer of one person, to put all of her care, due and attention into one poor soul. Hermione couldn't wait to do it. She felt like she was finally getting somewhere, finally going to help someone, truly truly going to help them!

"Hermione?"

She turned from the rising sun and smiled at Hippocrates. He was a kind man, tall but very approachable, he was jolly but sensible, the perfect Healer. But time had been his enemy, and his job had taken its toll. She could see it in his eyes; they were heavy eyes, weary with too much emotion, too much sadness beneath his strong exterior, like he took each death personally. She looked into those eyes now.

"Yes, Healer Smethwyck?" She smiled.

The balding man tapped his wand against the charts he held. "It should be a quiet one today Hermione, but no doubt we'll have some surprises. For now, please make up the beds on the left hand side of the ward." He nodded towards them, a small smile on his weathering features, before tending to his duties for the day.

A quiet day? She could handle that.

But, just as she was fluffing the pillows of her third bed, the Healers wishes of a quiet day were punctured with the sound of a shrilling alarm.

Red flashing lights dropped from the ceilings, unsuspecting Medi-witches yelped at the sudden flashes spinning around the entire ward. The alarm continued blaring. She had been prepared for this. Emergencies. Someone below them, in the Muggle warehouse which hid the hospital in its walls, had pressed the emergency trigger. Someone out there was dying, and it was Hermione's time to help them.

She dropped the pillow and ran towards Smethwycks office. She caught him just in time. "Hermione, Hermione!" He ranted, clutching at his wand, running towards the entrance. "Hermione, prepare a bed, charm it so it's waterproof, get any healing potion you know, any charm you know, get the bed ready. I must go." He pushed past her, barging towards the entrance.

Hermione stood there for a small moment, she took a deep breath, in, out, this was it. In, out. She calmed her shaking hands and tended to the bed.

Seconds later the ward erupted.

Healers, Medi-Witches, Medi-Wizards, Specialists, hurtled into the ward carrying a large sheet on a stretcher which was suspended in the air. "Move, girl!" The first two yelled at her before carefully moving the patient from the stretcher to her newly made bed. Their faces were utterly dumbfounded, "How could this be?" She heard some mutter, waving their knowing wands over the patient. "How is he alive?" They all seemed to wonder.

"Hermione! Potions!" She heard someone yell. Hermione rushed towards the storeroom, fumbling to get what was necessary, but what was necessary, they hadn't said! Her shaking hands almost knocked the glass vials onto the floor. "Fucking things!" She muttered.

Oh god, don't get flustered! She told herself, attempting to quell her trembling fingers. She breathed, she breathed, come on Hermione, her mind whispered, this is what you are here for, come on Hermione. She took another look at the mass of potions littered before her. No time, no time, her mind raced. No time for this! In a matter of panic she grabbed each of them labelled Healing or wounds or burns.

"Burn potion!" She heard Smethwyck say calmly beside her as she ran back in to the chaos. Hermione thrust the purple potion labelled 'Dittany' into his awaiting hands, watching as his steady hands carefully dripped the liquid onto the patient's chest. And oh god his chest! She couldn't see his head, for it was wrapped in a blood soaked bandage. But his chest lay bare for all to see. There was no skin anymore within the centre of it, just red raw muscle, Hermione could see it twitch slightly, the skin surrounding it was blistered red and yellow, peeled back as if ripped open. He had been burnt, burnt so very badly. Drawing her eyes from the raw scene, Hermione felt something pushed into her hands; she looked down at the familiar sight of Dittany. "Keep dripping it onto his chest girly." A Medi-Witch said beside her, her hands were bathed in vibrant red blood. Hermione bit back a cringe, this was her job.

Drip. Drip. Drip. She dropped the bubbling fluid onto the poor man's chest watching as the skin began to knit itself back together. Magic was truly incredible. People buzzed about around her, talking, mumbling, dabbing, smearing and wrapping god knows what onto the patient. All seemed somewhat calm, an organized chaos, a methodical bout of madness but despite the somewhat calm, Hermione head pulsated in her skull, like she'd been up all night reading, which she had. She rubbed at her temples with her free hand to relive the tension, it didn't help.

She felt a firm hand on her shoulder. "Yes?" She said, not wanting to stop her ministrations.

"Hermione. Could you now tend to his bandages please, I'll take over. Thank you." Healer Smethwyck gave her a short smile. Quickly taking the potion from her and nodding towards the patients bandaged face.

She moved over, gently placing her hands against the slippery bandages. "Slowly." Healer Smethwyck warned her from her left. "Slowly now." She nodded her head. Her sweating hands carefully began peeling back the layers of bandages which hid the man's face. They peeled of nicely but they were matted heavily with blood which made them sticky, she decided on an easier method. Going to grab her wand from her pockets, Smethwyck stopped her, his balding head shaking as his other hand still steadily dripped. "He's very weak Hermione, no unnecessary magic, not right now, it won't help." She understood, that was silly of her, she put her wand away and slowly began peeling the congealed bandages again. The first layer was quickly piled up on the Hospital floor. The second was tougher, more blood, closer to the skin, she went even slower. Nevertheless a face was beginning to appear beneath the blood and gore.

She slowly peeled away the top half of the bandages first, revealing brown…or what looked to be brown hair, or was it red? She couldn't tell. His forehead came next, pale as the pillow on which he lay. Hermione slowly peeled away the next, and the patients closed lids came to light. It made something in her stomach twitch, seeing this poor man's face, it just made him so much more real, so much more human, and therefore, so very vulnerable. She did not stop however, her hands continuing onto the last bandage. It was slick with blood, her hands were covered in it, but the bandage came off with ease.

Hermione faltered for a moment.

A sharp pain shot through her head and she groaned. It came again, like a wire splitting her skull. "Gaahh!" She moaned, rubbing her head with her free hand.

Her eyes were watering, the pain was intense, but she kept them firmly locked on the face before her. It was caked with blood, both dry and wet, a matted brown and vibrant red. But still, she recognized it.

"Aarrhh!" Pain, white hot pain coursed up her nose and into her skull. She squinted her eyes against the fluorescent light. It was over in seconds, but the intesity of it shook her. She was sweating, beads of it ran down her neck. She rubbed her damp palms onto her green robes before her eyes trained back onto the face before her.

She recognized it well. She took a step back. Staring into the face of...

Then the face moved, convulsed before her eyes. Alarms rang throughout the ward once again, blue lights fell from the ceilings, and a different sound engulfed her ears. It was an alarm she never hoped to hear in her career, for it was the sign that the patient was flat-lining.

Healers rushed toward them but Hermione allowed herself to stay rooted on the spot amidst the chaos. Healers were yelling, wands brandished, pumping onto his chest.

1…2…3 Her head seemed to throb with their counting.

1…2..3

1..2..3

They chanted. Hermione shook her head and joined in, her own wand shaking in her blood slicked sweaty palm.

Something swelled in her gut as she drew her eyes to the face she had unraveled back into the world. She couldn't place it…was it anger? Was it hate? Pity?

She just couldn't place the stifling emotion she felt as her hazy eyes lay upon the dying body of Draco Malfoy.

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First chapter done!

I hope you all liked it!

If so, or hey, if not, don't hesitate to review!

Much love,

ABRIGHT x


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